Subscribe
Follow Us
In his change from a one-two punch offense in Oklahoma City to a star-studded share-the-wealth system in Golden State, forward Kevin Durant has been able to do more with less this season, maximizing his offensive talent and basketball IQ with much less dependency.
Five stats exemplify Durant's first season with the Warriors: he set career-highs in field-goal percentage (53.7 percent), rebounds per game (8.3) and blocks (1.6) per game, while having career-lows in minutes (33.4 per game) and usage rate (27.8), via Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News.
While the lanky small forward is spending less time on the floor and taking 2.7 less field goal attempts than last season, his shot-selection has greatly improved as a result of having more capable pieces around him.
This is Durant's fifth straight season shooting over 50 percent from the field, yet he's averaged the fewest minutes of his career (33.4) while turning the ball over a career-low 2.2 times per game.
The Washington D.C. native is averaging the fewest points of his career (25.1) since his rookie season, but with two other bona fide 20-plus-point scorers in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, it's his well-rounded impact on the floor that matter the most.
Durant's improvement as a one-on-one defender and as a weak side shot-blocker has been the game-changer for the Warriors this season, propelling them to be a far more flexible and mobile switch-happy defense that ranked second-best in the league in the regular season.
His efficiency on the floor should pay dividends with likely increased minutes in the playoffs, making the best out of his regular season experience to augment it when it counts the most.
